[INDOLOGY] Private Indic manuscript libraries

[Dominik Wujastyk]

It's not at all delicate, but one can buy Sanskrit manuscripts quite easily on
eBay
<https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=sanskrit+manuscript&_pgn=2&_skc=50&rt=nc>.
Some even appear to be astral tables.  I have tried this out with one
manuscript, as a proof-of-concept, and it worked perfectly well.  I got an
1830 CE copy of a medical text, no illustrations, for $100.  It is a real
manuscript, though of course *caveat emptor. *

To export an item more than 100 years old from India requires a license
from the Indian Department of Antiquities.

Best,
Dominik


​
--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk <http://ualberta.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk>
​,​

Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
​,​

Department of History and Classics <http://historyandclassics.ualberta.ca/>
​,​
University of Alberta, Canada
​.​

South Asia at the U of A:

​sas.ualberta.ca​
​​


On 30 October 2017 at 03:59, Clemency Montelle via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> As part of work Kim Plofker and I are doing on manuscripts of numerical
> tables in Sanskrit, in addition to considering those examples that can be
> found in manuscript collections from libraries and universities, we found
> ourselves faced with those that originate from private collections or
> through dealers.
>
> We realised that we are unfamiliar with research more generally on Indic
> private manuscript collections, their origins, the extent of them, their
> circumstances, and what happens to them over time (if indeed such research
> exists).  There is of course quite a bit of media surrounding the sale of
> antiquities and art treasures privately and various legal issues
> surrounding this.
>
> But has anyone done any research on private manuscript libraries on the
> Indian subcontinent?  Or on related (and possibly more delicate) questions
> on where private dealers get their manuscripts from?
>
> Any leads would be greatly appreciated.
>
> with best wishes,
> Clemency
>
> ----
>
> Dr. Clemency Montelle
>
> Associate Professor
>
> School of Mathematics and Statistics
>
> University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wananga o Waitaha
>
> Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140
>
> NEW ZEALAND
>
> http://www.math.canterbury.ac.nz/~c.montelle/
>
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